Trump and riddle of JCPOA

TEHRAN - Although some news agencies have viewed the U.S. president stance on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) positively, the fact is Washington has long been breaching the nuclear deal.

On the one hand, The United States chooses selectively to keep part of the JCPOA which defines the obligations of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the deal, and on the other hand, it refuses to fulfill its obligations to the accord. Furthermore, the U.S. President has made an effort to add new clauses to the content of the JCPOA. Thus, we are now witnessing a clear nuclear deception by the United States.

In the meantime, European countries are apparently ‘backing’ the JCPOA, but in practice, they have done nothing to lift Iran's nuclear sanctions - the main objective of the JCPOA. The economic and commercial hurdles between Iran and Europe still remain intact. What is certain is that the United States, during both Obama's and Trump’s presidencies, has practically withdrawn from the nuclear deal.

The U.S. Treasury Department, again under the last two U.S. Presidents, has prevented the normalization of banking relations with Iran, an issue that has been acknowledged by the economic analysts in the world.

Donald Trump once again has extended the suspension of nuclear sanctions. However, he has announced that this would be the “last time” to waive the sanctions against Iran unless talks on Iran's missile program begin, and Iran's nuclear constraints, which have been scheduled for 10 years, become permanent. He also called for an inspection of Iran's military sites. Meanwhile, a White House official has told reporters that Trump is calling for additional strict measures in the JCPOA, and in case of Iran's lack of commitment to these new conditions, the United States would be able to immediately resume the sanctions. During his one year of presidency, Trump publicly confirmed Iran's commitment to the deal a couple of times, but failed to do the same around three months ago.

The U.S. Treasury Department has also added 14 Iranian personalities, including the head of the judiciary of Iran, to its list of sanctions on the grounds of human rights abuses. Not long ago, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, "Steven Mnuchin" stated that he expects new sanctions to be imposed on Iran.

Iran’s foreign ministry, while condemning U.S. threats and rejecting the addition of new people to the sanctions list, has issued a statement on the U.S. administration’s extension of waivers of Iran nuclear sanctions and imposition of a series of new sanctions on certain Iranian companies and individuals. Part of the statement reads:

The Islamic Republic of Iran, together with other parties to the JCPOA and the international community, has repeatedly emphasized that the nuclear deal is a credible international document and cannot be renegotiated in any way.

The Islamic Republic of Iran explicitly stresses that it will not carry out anything beyond its obligations in the JCPOA, and will not accept any changes in this agreement now or in the future. Moreover, it will not allow the nuclear accord to be tied to any other issues. The U.S. government, like other parties to the deal, is obliged to fulfill all its obligations, and if it fails to do so under false pretexts, it should be fully held accountable for the consequences.

Over the course of two years after the signing of the deal, the U.S. government has always been violating various parts of the agreement by breaking its pledges through procrastination and hostile policies. Trump’s past-year policy and Friday’s announcement violate the deal’s paragraphs 26, 28, and 29, and the Islamic Republic of Iran will follow up this blatant violation and report it to the JCPOA Joint Commission.

It's emphasized in this statement that: "The hostile and illegal move by the Trump regime in placing the name of Iran’s Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani in the so-called new US sanctions list shows that Washington has crossed all the red lines of conduct in the international community. It is a violation of international law and a breach of bilateral and international obligations of the United States, which will surely face the strong reaction of the Islamic Republic, and the US will be responsible for all the consequences of this hostile move."

The Statement continues to read:

Referring to the lofty concept of human rights to boycott Iranian authorities and citizens by a regime, whose most important allies are the worst violators of human rights and humanitarian law in the contemporary history, is a disgrace to civilized nations and a shame for modern rule, especially when they are imposed by a person obsessed with racist and anti-foreigner mentality whose recent indecent racist remarks against various nations has stirred hatred in the international community and among the American people; a person who has sold billions of dollars in weapons to massacre innocent people in the Middle East and considers provocation of violence and chaos as his honor.”

Over the past decades, the U.S. has always had the world's worst record in suppressing liberal nations and supporting repressive regimes, including unconditional support for the oppressive regime of Shah and the coup against the democratically-elected government of the Iranian people. It is also supporting the occupying, aggressive and repressive regimes, such as the Zionist regime and its regional allies, from the occupied Palestinian territories to Bahrain and Yemen. On the one hand, Washington sheds crocodile tears and claims to be advocating the human rights of the Iranian people using empty slogans and false allegations and, on the other hand, by imposing cruel sanctions, banning the entry of Iranian citizens into that country and other insulting behaviors, calls the civilized Iranian nation “terrorists”.

In a nutshell, Donald Trump's remarks regarding the JCPOA are an obvious deception. What is certain is that Iran will never renegotiate with the P1 + 5 members over the nuclear deal.